Cottage cheese salad has been a staple around our house for years. When our kids were little this was a favorite for home meals, potlucks, and just because.

When our oldest was about 2 years old, we were packing up to leave a church potluck and as I packed the car with our son in the car seat, I placed the food right next to him. It just so happened the cottage cheese salad was on top of another container. Why? Because it only had plastic wrap on the glass bowl. And it was right at hand level for the little guy. There were several people standing around and visiting, so I went back inside to get the rest of our gear. When I returned, there was laughter and cameras clicking. (mind you, this was during a time when cell phones did NOT abound.)

That little guy (he’s 38 now) had broken through the plastic and was happily eating the cottage cheese salad by the handfuls!

Here you see I’ve already started draining the fruit and dropped the cottage chees into the bowl.

Grab your ingredients and let’s get mixing!

Mix the gelatin well with the cottage cheese. The gelatin tends to stick to the bottom so be sure to scrape the bottom. Then add the cool whip. Just don’t overmix the cool whip. It can turn to liquid with too much.

Now for the fruit.

I made this salad with strawberries for many years. The salad was dubbed ‘Pink Salad’ at our church functions and was nearly always requested. For this post, though, I’ve opted for my peach version. I use canned sliced peaches. Not for any particular reason aside from the fact that I used sliced peaches in other recipes, so it’s what I have on hand. So if you want to use chunk peaches, please do so.

I cut the peaches into chunks right on top of the cottage cheese mixture.

Then drop the crushed pineapple right in there with the peaches.

Fold the fruit into the cottage cheese mixture until evenly distributed.

Place in the refrigerator and chill overnight. It isn’t ‘set in stone’ to chill OVERNIGHT. But you might want to give it at least an hour.